Credit card rewards enthusiasts, take note. Carrying a large balance on your credit card will obviously affect your score, but even if you pay it off in full and on time, that balance can still impact your credit.

Your credit and payment history obviously make up a big part of your score. Your credit utilization, however, also plays a big role. Your utilization is how much of your available credit you’re actually using. As Bloomberg explains, even if you don’t revolve your credit card balance, your score can take a hit if you’re using a lot of your available credit.

They explain that most issuers report balances to the credit bureaus around the end of the billing cycle, before you actually pay the bill. This makes it look like you’re using your available credit, which is true, but you’re also paying it off, and the bureaus don’t see that, so they can’t factor it into their calculations.

To combat this, they suggest paying off your balance about a week before your billing cycle closes. For more detail, head to Bloomberg’s full article at the link below.